A PANEL of eight experts has been appointed to advise the government to improve teacher quality to make teacher education less theoretical and more practical.

Education Minister Christopher Pyne this morning announced the panel will be chaired by Australian Catholic University Vice Chancellor Professor Greg Craven, who has opposed attempts to restrict admission to the top 30 per cent of school-leavers.

Mr Pyne said the “broad range of experts” would get better outcomes for Australian students.

“I want it to be more practical, I want them to have better experiences in the classroom rather than in universities and I want it to be less theoretical,” he said.

The Greens say the review panel was instead a way to point the finger at teachers, while the union has criticised the panel as biased and fatally flawed.

“All the evidence which is produced about what makes a difference to a child’s education points to teacher quality as the number one determinant of what produces good outcomes for students,” Mr Pyne said.

“As recently as December the OECD released another report which showed that in Australia, of all countries in the OECD, the classroom that a student was allocated was the most important determinant for their outcomes in any one year.

“In other words, the teacher who taught a particular student was the most important feature of the outcomes for that student.”

Mr Pyne, who foreshadowed the panel before the election last year, said ministerial advisory group would also include a SA representative in Easter Fleurieu School principal Trevor Fletcher. Other members include university academics, Dr Ben Jensen from the Grattan Institute and Independent Schools Victoria chief executive Michelle Green.

Mr Pyne said he wanted to improve the standing of teachers, and make students choosing to become teachers list the profession as their first preference at university, rather than a last resort.

But, he said no specific cut-off score for teaching degrees should exist.

“I’m not obsessed about ATAR scores, I think it’s a very blunt instrument. About half the people who go to universities these days don’t enter on the basis of their ATAR score so it’s a very glib line to simply say that if we have a minimum cut-off of ATAR scores, somehow it will fix every problem. That’s not the problem.”

He said evidence showed few people failed teaching degrees, indicating a tendency to accept a lower standard among teacher learning rather than aiming for a higher standard.

The review will examine teacher education methods, university course content, and training opportunities with special emphasis on foreign languages, science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Mr Craven said the panel must find better ways of embedding practice and theory in teacher training.

“Our education system is a good system, it’s not a shambles, but it deserves to be improved,” he said.

He said the teaching system was already good, but could be continually be improved.

“Teaching is a craft, it’s not a science. It takes a heart and a head. It takes practicality and it takes knowledge. There are opportunities to improve something that is already at a relatively high level, that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be improved.”

Australian Education Union Federal President Angelo Gavrielatos said Mr Pyne’s announcement was fatally flawed, and biased given Prof Craven’s appointment.

“The Australian Education Union has been clear in our concerns over declining entry scores. We want to see tougher entry requirements, and more rigorous assessment for training teachers throughout their studies to become a teacher,” Mr Gavrielatos said.

“Minister Pyne says his agenda is teacher quality, but in fact he is undermining standards. He wants to make it easier, not harder to get into teaching degrees.

“As Vice-Chancellor of a university with some of the lowest entry scores in the nation for teaching degrees to lead the Review, Mr Craven is part of the problem, not the solution.

“It’s astonishing that there is no representative from the largest employer of teachers — state education departments.”

Greens spokesperson for schools, Senator Penny Wright, said the review must consider boosting teacher salaries and improving professional support.

She said she was concerned the review panel was instead a way to point the finger at teachers and shift the focus from the Government’s poor policies.

“The Minister for Education keeps selling the furphy it’s not money that will fix Australia’s sliding educational performance, but money is what pays for teachers and it’s what pays for better training and support,” she said.

“Everyone agrees we need the best and brightest teachers in the classroom, but that just won’t happen unless we treat teachers like the professionals they are.”

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